The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-20
THE THISTLE AT ANCHOR.
Thousands of Visitors to the Chal-
lenger from Scotland.


of the old ferry pier at Tompkinsville yester-
day afternoon, and nodded his head toward
the Thistle, which lay 100 yards away.
why, what would you do with her"
asked his companion, who was well aware
that he did not have enough of the worlds
goods to enable him to enjoy the luxury of
a yacht for the pleasure it might afford him.
do with herF he echoed. "I'd haul her
up on a dry dock, erect a tent over and
around her, stand at the entrance, and take
| the peoples money at the rate of 81 q head.
Look at the people who come down here to
see her. Why, she'd draw like circus"
That Snowman had a level head, and
could he effect lease upon the terms he
suggested, he could, doubtless, make a small
fortune from the venture Never has any
thing in the shape of boat attracted 50
much attention as has the handsome Scotch
cup challenger Not less than 1000 people
went down to Tompkinsville to get look at
| her on Tuesday, and there were at least
three times as many Yesterday. The boat
men thereabouts are reaping harvest of
coin of the realm from people who want to
be rowed around the foreign racer They
are a thrifty lot and are not at all conscien-
tdous as to the prices they charge. If bust
ness is not very lively, and there are enough
of them idle to make competition strong,
they will contract to row out TO the yacht
and back for 81. But if only two or three
are ashore, and the demand for boats is
greater than the supply, they run the price
up to 81 and SO.
A CHANCE FOR A LOOK.
All the excursion steamers running
through the Narrows veer from their course
aud run close to the Yacht in order to give
their passengers a chance TO get a good view
of her. They run by at reduced speed, the
bands play Scotch airs and the passengers
cheer until they are hoarse. At first the
crew answered the cheer with a will but
there were many of them that it became
an old story and also interferred with their
work and they gave it up. Thereafter the
| officer on deck in lieu of other means for
responding, answered all salutes by waving
his hat
The crew having rested from the fatigue
incident to the voyage across the ocean, put
in good days work on Tuesday, and soon
after daylight all hands were piped on
deck and began stripping off the upper rig
ging The running rigging, which looked
| as though it had been in service year in
stead of a month, was cooled on deck and
the blocks, which were considerably chafed
| during the voyage, were scraped, vanished
and hung up on poles fastened to the dingy
davits at the port quarter The short and
chunky stick which had done duty as n
| topmast during the trip, the storm trysail
gaff and the temporary bowsprit were all
| unshipped, put over the side, tOwed
by the yachts cutter to the ferry house
! pier, and laid near the long, canvas-covered
racing spns. In the afternoon the racing
topmast and bowsprit were towed over to
the Yacht and put on deck. They will be
shipped to-day The work Of putting the
big spars in place will he carried on with all
possible haste, and Capt. Barr expects TO
have his boat in shape to cruise about by
Tuesday next. He says that be is anxious
to get her in trim TO sail as quickly us posi-
bic in order that he may more thoroughly
| acuuaint himself with the courses over
which the cup races are to be sailed. He be-
came pretty familiar with the courses when
he was here in 1885 rs skipper of the cutter
Clara and will, therefore, carry no pilot dur
ing the races.
CONCERNING THE VOLUNTEER
When the Volunteer is brought up as a
subject of conversation within his hearing
Capt Barr is always an attentive listener.
He makes no cOncealment of the fact that
he regards her as dangerous riyal, and
evidently believes that she is fully as fast
on every point Of sailing except before the
wind He is naturally loath to express any
positive opinion about her until he has seen
her SAIL and is, therefore, very guarded in
his replies to the oft repeated question,
''What do you think of herr"
mo admttance except on business are
the words painted in big black letters on
sign board which hangs near the Thistle'S
boarding ladder, but it seems to have little
effect in keeping all sorts of people from at
tempting to get aboard. Mot less than POO
people have come alongside and asked per-
mission to look about the vessel" said the
good-natured Captain, but have strict or
ders not to allow any one on board without
permit from one of the owners, and must
obey it TO the letter Why, even in GourocA
Bay was compelled to turn away some of
my most intimate friends.
Among those w no did visit the Yacht
during the day were Richard Henderson, of
the Anchor Line, ono of the owners; Com
modore Bateman, who came down in his
fleet steam yacht Meteor, and brought with
him his partner, Mr.. Green, John i. Plum
mer and e. s. Chaplin; Capt. Morrison, of
the Anchor Line steamship Utopia; Commo-
dore Cornelius Lee, who made reputation
as an amateur skipper by bringing the yawl
Cythera safely across the Atlantic in heavy
weather; w. A. w. Stewart, the owner of
the Cythera; 7. Malcolm Forbes, the owner
of the Puritan; Reginald Francl1lyn, Howell
Sanderson and w. T. Olphant.
Mr. Forbes inspected the yacht with the
eyes of a connoisseur and thought that she
looked wicked. He was especially struck
with her big mast and the only point which
called for criticism was the stern, which he
thought looked as though it would drag
considerable water after it.
Commodore Bateman said it would he
nip and tuck between the Thistle and the
Volunteer i'll light weather, but that in a
good breeze the latter would have consider
ably the best of it.
One of the amusing incidents of the day
was the exhibition of pertinacity made by
a neatly dressed, elderly man, with bushy
gray whskers and draw in his speech
which would have done credit to Lord Dun
dreary. He went alongside in a small boat
and started to go aboard without MS much
as asking leave. a sailor caught him in the
act and ordered him off. He persistently
hung about the ladder until the captain
came on deck.
81 say, old mani" he shouted, ''caront you
make an exception for an Isle of Man man.
l came from Douglas, and you ought TO let
me on.
Impossible" replied the captain. my
instructions forbid it.n
The shippers attention was then attracted
in another direction for moment, and
while his back was turned the Islo OF Man
clambored up on deck and disappeared
down the companionway
VISITORS IN CROWDS.
Steam yachts, launches and rowing
barges lowered about the cup challenger as
thcily as flies around the bunghoe of a
molasses barrel Frederick w. Vanderbilt
came down from the city with a party of